Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BURBANK, Calif. -- You've probably heard a big change is coming to primetime television here on KSL 5. Starting next week, "The Jay Leno Show" will lead into our 10 p.m. newscast.
I traveled to NBC studios in Burbank and sat down with Jay. He told me he's excited to return to nightly comedy, both because he wants to try new things and because he's missing out on so much laughable material.
"I like doing a daily show. It's a lot of fun," Jay said. "There are so many stories. You sit home and you miss Governor Mark Sanford: ‘I'm going for a hike, honey.' He goes to Argentina! Greatest story! Every guy in the world is saying, ‘Honey, at least I'm not as bad as him.' That would be great material."
Jay spent the summer on the road doing live comedy, and he took up running. The rest of his time off went to recreating the show with a new set and new features.
"We put a race track behind the studio, and we're going to do a green car challenge where we have celebrities in green cars race and see who's the fastest, and if some of them crash and burn," Jay said.
The show will retain favorite franchises, like "Jaywalking," but it will reposition them near the end of the show.
"I think we'll have fun. I think 10 o'clock has become the new 11:30," Jay said. "Nowadays, with carpooling and people working two jobs, or whatever it might be, people are going to bed earlier."
And Jay even gave a shout-out to his fans in our home state.
"Really nice, nice folks," he said. "I come from New England, so I like that small-town sort of feel. Every time I've been there, I've always been treated very graciously. People are always nice, the air is clean, so it's a great place to be."
After the interview, I couldn't help but wonder what car Leno drove to work. He's such a car buff, they say he drives a different one every day. So, we went found Jay Leno's parking stall and, I'm no car expert, but the best we can determine he drove the Jag XKE to work.
"The Jay Leno Show" debuts Monday at 9 p.m. on KSL TV.
